Capitol Hill Block Party

My first day at Seattle’s Capitol Hill Block Party was an utter disaster from the get-go. I stepped through the entrance and was immediately bombarded with a dense mass of spectators milling about haphazardly, and I wasn’t able to find a single pocket to escape from the humid swell of people the entire day. I’ll admit that it was fun to bump into a countless number of friends and random acquaintances, but it was impossible to keep track of any given group of people for longer than a few moments as I was continuously swept up in waves of show-goers. The situation of the mainstage right in the center of Pike St. is a beautiful idea in theory, but in practice it didn’t seem to go so well, as it is nearly impossible to cross the crowd and incredibly difficult to get a decent view.

I came to the first day of the Block Party armed with a self-tailored, hand-written schedule to guide my activities for the day. There were bands on a number of different stages I intended to check-out, and I had (what I thought was) a decent game plan that allowed me to squeeze it all in. This was all instantly thwarted by the festival’s population problem. After much screaming into cell phones and rapid fire texting, I was finally able to catch up with a partner in crime in time to take in Truckasaurus. After all that hullabaloo, I wasn’t even that into the group (I had never heard them, just heard of them, and had been eager to see what they were all about). I tried to enjoy myself, shake my shoulders and dance a bit to the dirty trip-hop-esque beats, but found them a little tricky and not quite danceable. I escaped up to the balcony to try to find a better view, but the sunlight trickling in from the windows made it hard to sustain my enthusiasm in the dark, little venue. The band of electro-beat makers don’t use mics, so there’s very little audience interaction, which seemed to cause the energy level to keep relatively stagnant. They do have a little video projection screen, but besides that, there was very little to look at. I snuck out before the set was over.

And thus began my war with the crowds of Capitol Hill. As I squeezed my way through to the beer garden, inch by sweaty inch, I was able to at least enjoy Menomena’s subdued, bass heavy synth-pop for a few brief moments before my attention was largely needed to keep my wits about me in the congestion. And this is where disaster struck: a little birdy had told me that a band of boys I was tight with back in Bellingham were going to be playing the Block Party. I wasn’t able to find them on the schedule, but I did bump into the most-rad Aaron Khwaja, who plays guitar for this absolutely amazing, little known power pop band. I was waiting in line for the beer garden, and he told me that they were playing at 7:30 the Cha Cha, which was not actually inside the Block Party. I was devastated, because this meant that I would undoubtedly have to miss Girl Talk’s infamous mash-ups and notorious dance party in order to see my buddies play. Pressing on into the beer garden, I was faced with a difficult choice: I could either fight my way back out of the beer garden and try to see Girl Talk, or I could squeeze through the exit to see one of my most beloved bands play for the first time in over a year.

Ultimately, I chose to see Yes, Oh Yes, a brilliant synth/dance/posi quartet from my home away from home, Bellingham, WA. The dreamiest four-some on the indie scene, these boys put the sweetness in simplicity with their clap-happy, sing along vibes. Jordan Morris, the band’s lead singer/keyboardist/lyricist, is an optimistic force to be reckoned with and Kellen Rack’s chops on the drum set add a brilliant fullness to the timbre. The aforementioned Aaron Khwaja, and hip cat Michael Molvar on bass round out this crew of rebels to create an undeniably marvelous pop group.

Tearing myself away from the momentary reunion was difficult, but I wanted to a least attempt to see some more bands before the end of the day. However, the Block Party was just too much to handle. In trying to get from one stage to the next, I never had enough time to properly feed and water myself throughout the course of the day, so I burst out of the Cha Cha in dire need to refreshment. In what was intended to be a quick pit stop before mustering the energy to bulldoze my way to the mainstage, I got stuck in a long and tiresome line for fish and chips. I struggled to appreciate Les Savy Fav’s set from my side view of the mainstage, but the sound was atrocious at the angle I was at so it was all just distortion, and all I could see was the lead singer jumping about the stage without his shirt on.

In the end, I had had about enough. I was exhausted, and covered in other people’s sweat, and the only time I was able to truly relax and have a good time was in the sanctity of the Cha Cha whilst reveling in the glory of Yes, Oh Yes. I cut out early before the legions of fans could assemble for Vampire Weekend, knowing full well what would happen if I waited for the show to start.

No related posts.

blog comments powered by Disqus